Out of control!

As we wake up each day to check the latest news to see if new measures to protect our country will affect our daily life, it can be easy to feel like things are spinning out of control.  So if you need some grounding today to steady yourself in the topsy-turvy world we are living in, I hope you will find it where I have found mine...in God's love letter to me today...His Word.

Psalm 46:1 - God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.

By definition, a refuge is a safe place. When the Bible describes God as our refuge, it is saying that God is our safe place when we need protection from something. Knowing God is our refuge enables us to trust Him more freely. We need not fear situations or people who threaten our well-being, whether in a physical or spiritual sense. There is no situation we will ever face that is out of God’s control, so the best place to be, always, is right with Him.

So let's talk about control.  Most of us are experiencing the feeling of being "out of control" right now.  We have children at home who are usually in school, we have cleaning and feeding responsibilities to meet without the resources we are used to, and we have demands on our time and abilities that seem impossible.  Take a look at this diagram and begin to sort for yourself what belongs in the circle and what belongs outside of it.  KNOWING what we can and cannot control is the first step to managing things in a healthy way.

I would suggest that you add to the inner circle "Time with God" as well.  Our verse today, Psalm 46:1 says that God is our refuge.  A refuge is of no use, value or protection if we don't ENTER it!  If we want to feel God's protection we have to enter into His presence.  We do this through time in prayer with Him, sharing our fears, worries and concerns with the One that remains, always, in control.  We do this by reading the Bible which shares stories and messages of God's glory and power, reminding our timid hearts and crowded minds that He is Lord over all things.  He cannot be a "present" help if we are not "in His presence!"

Today, set aside a few minutes to read Psalm 46 today.  I have provided the text below.  If you don't have a Bible and would like one, please comment with your name and address and I will find a way to send you one.

1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. 4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. 5 God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. 6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. 7 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. 8 Come and see what the LORD has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth. 9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire. 10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” 11 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.